


Steel and Smoke-Screens

by GhoulsArePeopleToo



Series: Steel and Smoke-Screens [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, angsty popsicles, both soles survive, separated soles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 03:30:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7297729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhoulsArePeopleToo/pseuds/GhoulsArePeopleToo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on this tumblr idea: http://thegoldenhalla.tumblr.com/post/145697309305/ok-but-what-if </p>
<p>Nora and Nate separated before the bombs fell but by what could be lucky timing they both end up in 111 with Shaun. Both survive the kidnapping, and agree to work together to find their son and figure the rest out later. However nothing ever goes to plan and their underlying marital issues eventually cause them to go their separate ways with only one agreement "The Institute must burn". Nora finds the Brotherhood of Steel. Nate finds the Railroad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [OK but what if](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/209395) by The Golden Halla. 



> Hi! This is my first time posting on the AO3 so bear with me while I get used to the tag system etc. 
> 
> This is based on the wonderful idea by TheGoldenHalla on tumblr which you can find here: http://thegoldenhalla.tumblr.com/post/145697309305/ok-but-what-if

Surely this was some kind of sick joke. The universe giving her a massive slap in the face for some unknown slight she'd committed. Nora glared at Nate as if he'd somehow set this up, his face twisted in a grimace that said he was thinking the same things. The newscaster droned in the background, but it was different this time; the man was crying live on screen. 

“Mum? Sir? You need to hurry!” the worry in Codsworth's voice seemed to kick them both into action. 

She jumped, dropping the box of Nate's things that she'd been about to help him with to his car. Ties spilled everywhere, hideous juvenile patterns from college and luxurious silk from work landed in a vomit-like mess around her feet but she was already over to Nate about to grab Shaun from him. 

“I've got him Nora, we need to move,” his gruff voice was full of worry now. 

“We need to get to the vault,” Nora had almost forgotten signing them up for the local shelter back in happier times. But thank God she did. 

Nate nodded and they both bolted for the door. 

“Be safe,” Codsworth sounded pained and they both turned to him at the same time. 

Nate opened the door and the rush of noise was overwhelming. Sirens blared, people were screaming and crying. The sound of two cars colliding almost drowned Nate out as he frowned, “Stay safe buddy.”

“Codsworth, stay safe honey,” Nora fought the tears that threatened at saying goodbye to him. 

She hadn't been sure about the Mr. Handy at first but now she didn't know what she'd have done without him after Nate moved out. Even just having her a hot coffee ready in the morning. Then he'd hover around in comfortable silence as she drank it and watched the sun come up while Shaun dozed. On the rare occasions she woke up before him anyway.

With a final mournful look they were out of the door and sprinting towards the vault. Nate kept his pace slow enough for Nora to be able to see him but he had military fitness and Nora worked at a desk. Her lungs burned but she kept her eyes glued to the back of Nate's head, trying not to look at the people struggling with their bags and cars. They crested the hill and Vault-tec uniforms came into view. Nate shoved his way to the front of the crowd and Nora followed in his wake, almost apologising as though politeness meant anything today. 

“I am Vault-tec!” the vaguely familiar voice of the sales rep who'd harassed them daily. 

Nate recognised the whine of the minigun spinning up instantly, though the people around him cowered and cried out he knew it was just a warning spin. Nora hid slightly behind his bulky shoulders but didn't say a word. 

“Butler. We're on the fucking list,” Nate's voice boomed over the tears and shouts. 

“Butler. Adult male. Adult female. Infant male. Follow the rep,” the man with the clipboard gestured behind him. 

They wasted no time, all but mowing the man down as they hurried to the security officer who was now sprinting further up the hill and shouting to them. Neither even glanced back to the desperate crowd behind the fence. If they had they'd have seen the nosey woman whom Nora had caught hanging around near her windows and peering in more than a few times, or the mailman Nate used to greet when he still lived in Sanctuary Hills. 

“This can't be happening,” Nora choked back a sob, looking around wildly as she stumbled over rocks. 

Nate was sharply focussed, his training taking over when his brain wanted him to scream. A small crowd of people were on the tell-tale shape of a vault door. Nora remembered sitting on the lawn with Nate and watching as it arrived on the back of a huge truck. She'd rubbed her swollen belly and comforted herself with the thought that it would never be necessary. Nate had laughed at the money they were spending on something never to be used. Around them Vault-tec employees shouted to each other but she was doubled over trying to get her breath back.

“You OK Collier?” Nate asked and it just sounded so fucking normal amidst this chaos.

The world was ending and she stood straight to stare at him. His eyes were wet with tears that hadn't fallen yet. Her maiden name made her think of her parents back home and her heart ached. Was this worldwide? Were they safe? Without really thinking Nora slipped her small hand into Nate's large calloused palm and after a beat he squeezed back, cradling Shaun in his other arm. She startled and looked up at him when she realised what she'd done. A massive orange light burst on the horizon, somewhere near Natick, and a woman screamed. It was drowned out by the most unnaturally loud and metallic sounding boom they could ever imagine hearing. Nora cried out Nate's name and they clutched each others hands tightly. The ground shook and with relief they realised it was the door moving downwards. Fire seemed to devour the landscape, spreading at speed towards them. 

“Get down!” Nate bellowed to her and they both ducked down just as his head dropped below the ground. 

A heat rushed over them so intense it knocked the breath from her and stung his eyes like bleach. Shaun cried loudly and frantically in his fathers arms. Their small group was bathed in an orange glow until the blast doors closed and sealed them into darkness. Nora had Nate's hand in a vice grip even tighter than when she'd given birth. He barely registered the pain though, chest heaving with adrenaline. The tears he'd been fighting had rushed down his face but it felt like the heat had burned them into his cheeks, the skin felt so stiff. A woman sobbed violently in the pitch black and it hit him like a ton of bricks. They'd done it. By seconds. 10 more seconds and they'd all be dead. A man made a sickly noise and from the soft thud Nate heard next he assumed the man had probably fainted.

“We made it,” Nora's voice was husky with disbelief. 

Suddenly he couldn't help but laugh. A booming and hysterical laugh bubbling up from his chest. She joined him with a laugh he'd always described as filthy, and he felt her arms around his neck. It was the most physical contact they'd had with each other since the night he left. 

“We made it Nate,” her laughter quickly turned to tears. 

He held her close with his free arm, Shaun cradled between them. The darkness made it easy to forget their estrangement; and he clutched her even tighter to him, her face buried in his chest. They'd survived. 

“We made it,” he repeated back, softly into her black hair. 

A florescent light began to filter into the elevator as they reached the bottom and with it they drew apart again, both distancing themselves from the other but her hand found its way to rest lightly on Shaun's chest. The reassuring hummingbird-like beats like an affirmation of their survival. In the light and reduced panic she actually started to recognise some of their...no, her neighbours. Mr Russell who complained about her never putting the trash out in time. And Mrs Whitfield who had come over with casseroles and a sympathetic ear when she'd heard about Nate and Nora's separation. 

Nate glanced at Mr Able, the man he had helped with restoring a gorgeous vintage motorbike. The man looked shellshocked, and Nate wondered what his face looked like to others. He noted that he'd been correct, a man he didn't recognise was slumped on the floor in a heap but he seemed to be coming round though no one moved to help him. They were all too consumed in their thoughts. Everyone else's skin was bright pink, from the blast he figured. He looked down at Shaun but his skin was it's usual shade. Nate's hispanic coloring made it less obvious but he could see something like a sunburn on his arms. The elevator came to a stop and Nora asked to hold Shaun. Now his son was safe, Nate decided he could let his protective instincts slide a little. He handed the bundle to her and rolled both his shoulders in turn. She was tinged a dusky pink he noticed, almost looking how she used to when she blushed. He hadn't seen her blush in a long time he thought abstractly. The Vault-tec staff in their stupid blue suits were giving orders and welcoming people but when either of them tried to ask a question they got the same answer. 

“There will be an orientation later on, sir/ma'am.”

Nora didn't like that and argued, asking what they knew about the rest of the world. Of course. Nate hadn't even thought about her family over in England. Were they safe? Thoughts of his Mom flooded him with sorrow. He hadn't even considered her for a moment, an echo from his service. Early in his first deployment an officer had spotted him looking at his wedding picture. 

“Want some advice kid?” the man had a thick New Jersey accent and a shock of eye-catching red hair. 

“When the bullets start flying, you don't even think about them back home. You think about them for one second and you're weak. You're doing this to get home to them, don't drop your guard for a second,” the man dropped his cigarette butt, “It'll come naturally eventually.”

Since then he'd learned to compartmentalise, and became something like friends with the officer also known as Captain Harrison. A massive man of well over six and a half feet and few words unless he was giving advice which was few and far between. He eventually disappeared amidst rumors of joining some kind of training program everyone called “super-soldier school.”

Eventually they were herded along to a woman who issued them with brand new blue suits. What Nora wanted to know was why she couldn't wear her own clothes. Again - no answer. They were shown to cubicles where they changed into their vaultsuits. Nora cringed at the way the material stretched over her breasts. She'd always been blessed in that area but breastfeeding had inflated them to whole new levels. She gathered Shaun back up and cradled him tightly, going in search of Nate. He was across the corridor arguing with the doctor they were now supposed to follow. 

“You're not giving us anything. My wife has family overseas, tell us what you know.” 

“We'll tell you everything in orientation sir. Right now we need to make sure you weren't affected by the nuclear detonation above ground,” the man wasn't budging and Nora shook her head at Nate. 

He threw his hands up in defeat, “Let's get this over with then.”

Neither mentioned him calling her his wife. While technically true they'd been separated for a couple of months. Nate had even gone to get the divorce papers. From a lawyer Nora hated; a touch he'd chosen just to hurt her. She didn't know that, but she herself had a friend in family law looking into proceedings for her too. Her wedding ring seemed to tighten on her finger, and she blew air out of her cheeks at herself for still wearing it. Nate still wore his though, she noticed when she glanced at his hand. They would have to talk about this soon. Shaun had tired himself out from crying, and she bounced him softly in the crook of her arm to try and get him to sleep. The doctor lead them into a room where they were flanked by capsules of some kind. 

“If you'd just step into the decontamination chambers please,” the doctor gestured. 

Nate looked around suspiciously, a feeling in his gut making him anxious. He saw the same nerves on Nora's face and swallowed thickly. He stepped in front of her, tickling Shaun under the chin. 

“See, Daddy's right here. We're safe. You're safe,” Nora gazed down into her sons eyes – his fathers big brown eyes ringed by long eyelashes most women would kill for. 

“I'll see you in a minute, kiddo. Be right over there,” he pointed at the chamber he was about to climb into. 

Nora caught his wrist just as he was turning away, her grey eyes searching his face like she was going to say something. She seemed to think better of it, so he dipped his chin in a nod at her and they turned from each other to climb into their pods. Something like panic coiled in her stomach but she passed it off as adrenaline, and cooed at Shaun to distract herself. The whoosh of the pod closing made her look up and she saw Nate staring back at her through the window in his own decontamination capsule. The world had ended and she was stuck in a metal box with her soon to be ex husband. Well, divorce probably wasn't going to be an option now. But she wasn't staying married to him, apocalype or no. She was definitely being punished for something. But she was glad he was here for Shaun. If he hadn't been picking up his stuff today... she wasn't sure she wanted to think about it. All feelings relating to Nate were too complicated for her to know where she stood on anything other than that it wasn't working. 

The robotic voice informed her that the procedure was beginning, and the sound of someone banging on metal made her look up from Shaun again. It was Nate, his fist hammering down on the door then suddenly stopping dead. She heard a soft hiss and struggled in her pod, what happened to Nate? His eyes were glassed over staring out at her. Shaun let out a piercing cry and she went to soothe him but her voice wouldn't come out. She was so cold, and she slapped her hand against the glass window desperately but every ounce of her energy was gone, seemingly sapped from her muscles. So tired. Shaun was uncharacteristically still and she felt her own body lock up. What was happening?


	2. Chapter 2

Something was tickling her arm. Her eyes creaked open, eyelashes tugging at eachother where they'd clumped together. The something was Shaun, wriggling gently and weakly. Nora moved her neck sluggishly to look around. A full body shudder wracked through her, and she saw her skin was greyish and covered in what looked like frost. Something moved and caught her eye, and Shaun gave the tiniest of cries urging her to bounce him gently in her stiff arms. 

Her first attempt at speech came out as a croak of frigid dry air. She tried again, “It's ok buddy. Mummy's here.”

She peered out of the window, body not strong enough to actually move toward it. Nate was here. It slowly filtered back to her. What kind of decontamination was that?This didn't feel like coming round from anaesthesia, it was different. She was going to give that doctor hell when he explained himself. A layer of grime seemed to cover everything. She saw his black hair and squinted to see what he was doing. He was bound to lose his already short temper about this situation. He seemed to shake his head sluggishly before his eyes snapped up to meet hers through the windows. 

“This one,” an unknown and distorted voice shocked them both. 

Finally someone coming to fetch them and move them to some quarters, and hopefully a blanket. Nate saw them before she could, and she saw him raise his hand and attempt to knock on the door with his fist. 

A trio of people came into Nora's view and she shifted back uncomfortably. No blue Vault-tec suits, instead two strange hazmat-style coveralls and one scarred bald man. There was a loud metallic groan when one of them fiddled with some controls on her pod. Nate was regaining his strength now and he bashed the door with all the force he could gather. They were opening Nora's pod with Shaun in it. He couldn't hear anyone else talking and the outfits made him nervous. These people weren't with Vault-tec he could just feel it in his belly. What was happening? His head was spinning. 

“Hey!” his voice was a strangled grunt. 

The people were talking but Nora couldn't make any of it out. Her steely eyes locked onto Nate's and he grimaced at the pure panic in them. They'd just survived a nuclear detonation and now this? What the fuck was happening? He hammered on the door now, his bones feeling less heavy as time went on. His teeth wouldn't stop chattering and his hair was damp, dripping in his eyes. 

“Nora!,”he tried to yell but she couldn't hear him. 

She could see he was shouting to her, and she tried to shout his name back but her voice couldn't do it. Her chest hurt. Another metallic groan and then a rush of air around her feet. The realisation that the pod was opening had her clutching Shaun tight to her chest and turning away. Nate watched as the capsule slowly opened and tried to kick the door of his own. 

A soft voiced female was talking to Nora but he couldn't hear what was said. Nora had a fierce look of determination on her face and spat words back. When the woman reached for Shaun both Nate and Nora bridled wildly. Nate grabbed a rail above his head and used it for leverage to kick hard at the door but it wouldn't budge. Nora pulled away from the woman sharply, putting all her weight back on one foot to fight how her dad taught her. 

“I've got him,” Nora's voice was croaky but full of anger. 

“Don't you touch one hair on his fucking head,” Nate shouted, “I will tear you apart if you touch him.”

His threats and yells were all but ignored other than by the man in the leather who turned to him with almost a knowing smirk. This just made Nate angrier, battering the inside of the pod until he felt a bone in his foot give with a horrible crack.

Nora was fighting with the two suited people fiercely, catching one of them in the belly with her foot and sending them skittering back on the icy ground. 

“Enough,” the scarred man had a voice like he smoked 40 a day his whole life. 

Nate hammered his fists on the glass as the gruff man advanced on his son and ex wife. He saw the pistol on the mans hip, and when he reached for it Nate made a noise like a wounded animal. 

She looked up at the man with wide terrified eyes, gripping Shaun's tiny body as tightly as she could. Nora let out a scared cry as the pistol was raised in her direction before the man smashed her hard across the face with it. With a scream that could have been his name Nate watched horrified as they took his baby from her limp arms. The scarred man with the nasty voice came up to the glass window of his pod with another of those infuriating smirks. One of the suited people closed up Nora's door. 

“I'll fucking kill you,” Nate spat at the man who gave a dark laugh in reply. 

“We've got the backups at least.” the man turned from him dismissively then. 

The trio of kidnappers left as Nate screamed his throat raw with agonised threats. He felt that sickeningly familiar feeling of heaviness spread through his bones. Not again... whatever this is... not again. He bashed his fist against the door again, only just noticing that he'd cut his hand open and smeared his blood on the icy metal. He was too tired though, drained of all the fight he had coursing through his veins only a moment ago. His eyes closed without his permission and then nothing – again.


	3. Chapter 3

The unsettlingly serene voice brought him round this time, coughing and spluttering. A siren was blaring in the background. As feeling filtered back through him, his foot throbbed and he recalled kicking the pod door. It all hit him like a train then, Shaun being carried out of the vault. Nora's unconscious body slumped with blood dripping from her nose and mouth. The scarred man hit her pretty hard, and it occurred to him she may not be just knocked out. He felt a rush of air around his feet and grabbed onto the door trying to force it up faster. 

“Nora,” his throat felt like he'd been swallowing broken glass, “Nora!”

His legs buckled as soon as he dropped down, his knees hitting the floor hard. As soon as he could wrangle his weak legs into co-operating he smashed his fist on the release for Nora's pod. The breath coming out of his lungs was so cold it felt like it numbed his windpipe on it's way up. Nora was just starting to move sluggishly in her own pod to Nate's relief. He may not want to be married to her anymore but she was still the mother of his son. 

Frigid air rushed around her ankles, just like the last time her pod was opened. Nora's head pounded, her nose and lip felt swollen and tight. She reached up and felt dried blood, slowly remembering what had happened. Her eyelashes were stuck together again she noted when she opened her eyes to be met with Nate's wild gaze. Shaun! Her heart seemed to plummet through the steel floor and her mouth twisted in pain. She stumbled forward, dropping to her knees like Nate had. Nora's eyes stung and almost instantly red hot tears poured down her cold cheeks. He went to pull her close like he would have only months ago but stopped short. He couldn't pretend seeing her in pain didn't upset him, of course it did. But there were lines he wasn't sure about crossing even in this situation. She was too consumed to even notice. Her heart felt like it had been punched out of her chest. Where was her baby? Those bastards took her baby. Nora's body wracked with deep sobs. He watched her cry and found himself incapable; he was in a pain he couldn't put into words but mostly he was furious. Nate ground his teeth together impatiently while she fell apart on the cold floor.

“Nora,” he ventured when her whimpers subsided. 

She looked up at him with puffy red eyes and snot running down her cheeks, “They took our baby.”

Her voice sounded small and pitiful, but he couldn't blame her. The siren wailed in the background. 

“We'll get him back Collier,” his eyes locked onto hers with a fierce determination. Their words fogged in the air. 

“We'll never find him,” she wrapped her arms around her knees. 

“We will,” he assured her, “Whatever it takes.”

“What's even happening? Were we frozen?” 

Nate looked around at the pods and noticed for the first time theirs were the only ones open. The others... he walked over to the first one and pressed the button. It wouldn't open, so he moved onto the next. Nora got to her feet gingerly, hand finally reaching up to feel her face. Her nose was double it's usual size – and definitely skewed a few degrees out. For a ridiculous moment she looked around for a mirror. Nate was busy checking each capsule in the room, finding all the doors locked tight. Someone must be alive in this place. They had to be. She looked around herself, rubbing her arms absently to warm up. The pain in her face was alien, Nora had never been hit in the face with any real force. Never been in a fight unless hair-pulling with her playground nemesis Grace Gallagher counted. She finally got control of her shaking legs and steered herself over to the terminal she'd spotted. Maybe there'd be some information on there. 

It was only then that she actually heard what the nasal voice was calling out over the PA system. 'Cryogenic array' - they'd been frozen. God knows how long they'd been down here. She clicked her way through reports on the terminal but everyone's status was the same. Deceased. All except hers and Nates that is, that was OPEN.

“What does it say?” 

She almost jumped out of her skin at his sudden proximity. Her brain was racing about 50mph faster than the rest of her. She'd suspected it the first time she came round, that maybe they'd been frozen. She tried to remember anything from the contracts she'd filled in because she didn't trust Nate to read the fine print. VaultTec hadn't mentioned a thing about cryosleep. Her lawyer brain would never have missed that. She couldn't recall any possible loopholes. It occurred to her that to be fair VaultTec's lawyers could have said anything they wanted, who was going to sue in the event of nuclear apocalypse and breach of contract? The courts weren't exactly likely to survive. A laugh bubbled out of her, another hysterical laugh like that one yesterday in the elevator. No. Not yesterday. When was it? It could have been decades. 

Nate was watching her warily as though expecting her to lose her mind. He thought maybe she already had, laughing at the terminal like a loon. She turned to face him then and he finally saw the bruises blooming under her skin. Her dainty nose looked like it'd been pushed across her face, ruining the regal look he'd always thought she had. Her lip was split but that would heal. 

“Nora what's going on?” his voice betrayed only a tenth of his agitation. 

She stared up at him with glassy eyes, “We were frozen Nate.”

“How long for?” he squinted in confusion. 

“I'll just tune into my psychic powers shall I?” she snapped and he narrowed his eyes at her, “Could be one year could be fifty.” 

“We need to get out of here.” he headed towards the pods to try and open them again. 

“It's useless Nate, they're gone.” she crossed her arms across her chest in an attempt to warm up. 

“Gone? How? We're fine.” Nate turned to her, shock in his eyes.

“They died. I don't know why we survived.”

He stepped back from the capsule containing a man he knew he recognised but couldn't name. That wasn't fair. Someone should know his name. You can't just die and no one ever even know you're gone. 

“What was his name?” he asked almost desperately.

Nora seemed to float over to the pod, but she didn't know. Just a guy from down the road who used to wave when they turned the car around in the cul-de-sac. 

“I don't know. Why?” she noticed how Nate stood awkwardly on his left foot, “What's up with your foot?”

He ignored her question, gazing at the man and thinking how it wasn't fair. How could they survive the bombs so narrowly only to die in a cold wet room underground? 

“We need to get out of here. We need to find Shaun.” a curtain of determination seemed to fall over Nate's pained expression. 

“The surface? We don't even know if it's safe,” Nora couldn't imagine what their town looked like now.

“Shaun's there. I'm going to find him. You stay here and rot if you want,” Nate turned from her and made his way to the door with a stilted gait.

Nora just barely kept herself from the nasty reply on her tongue, instead choosing to follow Nate. She sighed softly when she turned back and looked at the two rows of frigid coffins; all those people dead in their capsules. Not a clue what they were facing. They thought they'd survived the bombs. They thought they were safe. She felt sick. But Shaun was out there somewhere. She nodded to no one in particular and he hit the door release.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the vault seems to have gone on for a long time but the pace will pick up from now. Thank you so much to people who left kudos and a comment!

They found a stimpak in the security office down the hall, and Nate injected it quickly into his foot while Nora scanned through the files on a terminal in the room. No new information, just confirming that they were part of a cryostasis experiment. 

“Gonna tell me what happened to your foot?” she asked as Nate pulled his boot back on. 

He shrugged dismissively, a petulant habit of his that used to drive her to distraction – in fact it still did. “Think I broke something kicking the pod door. Search the cabinets for any weapons we can find. I'm going to kill the first VaultTec employee I come across.”

They didn't find anything in the office, so they continued working their way through the steel maze. There was another room lined with pods but the story was the same, all occupants dead. 

“Oh god why would they do this?” Nora tasted bile. 

Nate didn't answer, he was already back out the door and heading down the hall. In front of a broken door he hunted through a toolbox and handed Nora a screwdriver. She held it in her hand like he'd just handed her a nuclear missile. She wasn't a fighter. Nate armed himself with a hammer until they stumbled across a security baton further in the vault. Almost as soon as he picked up the baton a giant roach jumped up at Nora's face. She screamed and flailed her arm around with the screwdriver. Almost automatically Nate dispatched the insect and realised he was going to have to teach Nora how to defend herself if this was the kind of things they were going to be encountering. 

They were both grateful to find some fresh-ish water, Nora gulped at it greedily until Nate told her off. 

“You'll make yourself sick. Drink it slow,” he rolled his eyes at her as though she were a new recruit he found himself responsible for. 

“Sorry, wasn't much call for survival skills in corporate law,” Nora's eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. 

“What the hell was that thing out there?” she asked him after a few moments of tense silence.

Nate rubbed his stubbly chin absently, “Looked like a cockroach to me. Mutated by the radiation maybe?”

Nora seemed to pale at that. If roaches are mutated what the hell else could be up there? What other mutations would there be? Would all the people be crazy and disfigured? She didn't know if she could fight them. Nate was busy thinking about locations close to where they were. Places to get weapons and supplies... if anything was left up there. 

The pair carried on, picking up whatever seemed useful along the way. More of those massive roaches attacked them, and Nora even managed to fight one off with some instruction from Nate. She didn't like being told what to do but he knew what he was talking about in this situation. They found themselves in the entrance area and both felt suddenly winded. God knew how long ago they'd come running down here and been so grateful to survive. This place felt like a steel mausoleum now. She watched as Nate went to one of the skeletons on the floor and pulled something from it. As he strapped it onto his wrist she recognised it as a PipBoy. He wiped the dust from it and waited for it to boot up. It would be useful if it still worked, he'd seen officers use them in Alaska. He saw another skeleton over by the entrance door controls and went to see if there was another PipBoy for Nora. 

“Nate what do you think we're going to find up there?” Nora asked nervously when he held a PipBoy out to her.

He watched as she strapped it on, hissing when the neural receiver pierced her skin, “I don't know. It could have been decades Nora. Maybe they've started rebuilding.”

She watched the script and images flickering on the screen, “Maybe. Or everything's just gone.”

Nate didn't answer, just went to the entrance controls and pulled out the plug from the PipBoy as he'd seen the VaultTec guy when they'd entered. 

“Shaun's out there, that's all I need to know,” Nora said from behind him. 

“Just hold onto that,” he replied before the sirens and voice kicked in. 

The loud scraping of metal signalled the opening of the vault-door. The elevator still stood as it had the day the bombs fell and they both stepped in with a deep breath each. Nora thought of the skeletons they'd seen in the vault. She'd never seen skeletons before, well not including ones in classrooms. After what she'd read in the terminals along their way she knew their deaths had been either violent or from starvation. She shuddered. Nate shifted his weight now that his foot was healed, feeling the weight of the pistol at his hip was reassuring. He was a rifle kind of guy but not a bad shot with a handgun. He had the pack with supplies slung over his shoulder to save Nora the weight, and snorted indignantly when the voice thanked them for choosing VaultTec. If he'd had any idea. Well... he couldn't think about what choices he'd have made now. He had to focus on his son. It went dark again the way it had when they'd descended. Nora felt awfully lightheaded and she could almost feel her heartbeat in her throat. She considered slipping her hand into Nates again. Just for some comfort. But things were already so confused and she didn't need to think about anything other than Shaun. She crossed her arms across her chest instead and they ascended in charged silence.


End file.
